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Dawn Falls
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
4 reviews for Dawn Falls
This is a great place to go hiking with your dog. On the fire roads the dogs are allowed off leash. They are also allowed on all the surrounding trails although they are supposed to be on leash. We only passed one fresh water source so be sure to bring water for your pooch.
On our recent hike we experienced a nice mix of difficulty from easy fire roads to steep trails. The falls and views were a great bonus to a relaxing Sunday hike.
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The dawn falls trail of Baltimore canyon is a KEEPER!
The trail head is in a residential neighborhood on a narrow street. We went late Sunday morning and found a parking spot easy (maybe we got lucky?)
It's a short 2.6mi (round trip from the start to dawn falls and back). It's a very well maintained trail that follows along the creek which leads up to dawn falls (that is if you hike this in the winter, for if you go right now, it is BONE DRY).
Initially you feel like you're hiking in someone's back yard, but it's nicely shaded with tons of vegetation to keep the eyes busy while hiking and supposedly there are berries along the way (I didn't spot them). There are a lot of locals on this trail that either go trail running and walking their dogs (there are doggie bags provided at the head of the trail to remind you to pick up after your pet). The locals you meet on the trail are friendly, pretty much everyone that we crossed paths with made eye contact, smiled, and said hi.
The hike is pretty easy. Not much of an incline until the last very short part where there are switchbacks to get to the dawn falls area. The falls seem like it would be impressive to see if it actually had water. The terrain is nice and firm, not all rocky and loose.
You can choose to keep continuing up towards the fire road to the ridge (these locals told us, but it is at a good incline but I heard was worth doing).
i love this hike b/c its short, shaded, not strenuous, and you have great payoff with that awesome waterfall at the end (if and when its there). the trail head is easy to find too!
Eat pizza at that place Picco nearby. Great thin crust pizza.
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I had absolutely no expectations when I woke up one Saturday afternoon and wanted to get a quick, short hike in that morning. After some research, the shortest, closest trail with a waterfall was the one leading to Dawn Falls in Larkspur.
From a waterfall perspective, this is one of the weakest ones in Marin - not sure why as it was raining just as hard here in this area as any others I visited within the same time frame, but for whatever reason, the water just does not flow as well as the other waterfalls in Marin. The only thing going for it is that it's about 10 minutes from the 101 (all other waterfalls are a good 20-45 minutes from the 101). From the trailhead, the waterfall is just over 1 mile to get to.
As for the hike / scenery, well it's beautiful. It's a really simple trail to walk or even run; covered trail for about 90-95% of the time. It's a dog-friendly trail and it's pretty wide for the most part (narrows as you get closer to the waterfall at the end of the trail). In fact, this trail is so easy, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mill Valley soccer moms with their Starbucks in hand on a regular basis when on this trail chatting away on their cel phones.
Parking is a pain (trail starts at the very end of Madrone Ave. which is a narrow residential street). There is limited parking in the area and it's clearly marked. Chances are some of the neighbors might flag this review as they dislike drawing any more traffic to their streets.
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For more hiking recommendations:
http://www.yelp.com/li...
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I have hiked this trail several times. I live in SF, so it is an easy commute to the Larkspur area. I love this trail because my dog really enjoys the hike & so do I. Great scenery and some beautiful trees along the way. It's nice hiking in the canyon area. It's pretty shaded all the way to Dawn Falls.
To the waterfall, it is pretty straight. There are some elevation gains on some hills at the end of trail that is close to the falls. I just went in early April 08, and there was pretty much just a trickle of water. Be sure that you check yourself and your dog for ticks at the end of your hike. My dog has been bit by a number of ticks throughout the years.
Parking can be difficult, but about a block or so away from the trail, there is a side street to park your vehicle. Just don't block anyones driveway.
If you want to make this trail longer, I usually will hike up dawn falls, connect with the hoo-koo-e-koo trail to blithesdale ridge to southern marine line and either come back down dawn falls or meander my way thru barbara springs to get back to my vehicle.
Also, I usually like to hit one of the malls on my way back to SF. It's nice to shop in Marin at the outdoor mall area. REI is on the way back, as well, near Corte Madera.
